The Black Crowes 12.21.24 The Capitol Theatre

Words & Photos by Marco Denzer

As The Black Crowes brought their Happiness Bastards tour to a conclusion, the renowned rock band performed the first of two final shows at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York.

The sold-out concert kicked off with an impressive set by George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners that caught everyone’s attention from the very start. Featuring keyboardist Michael Lemmler, guitarist Chris Adkins, drummer Terrence Houston, and George Porter Jr. on bass, the quartet effortlessly delivered a heavy dose of high caliber tunes that smoothly blurred the lines and transitioned between funk, blues, jazz and the infectious grooves of New Orleans music. Their extremely talented and instrumentally prolific performance was a perfect introduction and preparation for the night’s headliner.

Elegantly dressed in designer sports blazers, dress pants, button down shirts and fancy leather boots… no jeans or tee shirts this time! Looking every bit as quintessential rock stars, The Black Crowes walked on stage to a packed house and cut right into the guitar riff heavy “No Speak No Slave” from their 1992 release “The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion”. Having firmly established the vibe for the night’s performance with this tune, vocalist Chris Robinson and company, including two female backup vocalists, guitarist Nico Bereciartua, drummer Cully Symington, bassist Sven Pipien, keyboardist Erik Deutsch, and his brother Rich Robinson on guitars presented a finely curated setlist to their fans.

Paraphrasing vocalist Chris Robinson, who after the first song stated “As these are the last two shows of the Happiness Bastards tour, tonight we’re gonna stretch out and play something a little different, these are songs we really want to play for you… we hope you don’t mind”. And considering that “Happiness Bastards”, the band’s first studio album in 15 years, has enjoyed tremendous success since its release and recently received a Grammy nomination for the Best Rock Album of 2025 category. It was a bit surprising that their setlist included only “Dirty Cold Sun”, “Wanting and Waiting”, and “Cross Your Fingers” from the album. The rest of the tunes on the setlist, in addition to some surprising covers, were selected from the albums “The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion”, “Amorica”, and “Shake Your Money Maker”, but the crowd’s joyful reaction made it abundantly clear they loved the choice in tunes regardless of their source.

Rich manned his post on stage armed with an impressive array of vintage amplifiers and guitars on hand, and Chris was enthusiastically singing and dancing through every song on the night’s repertoire. The Robinson brothers displayed impeccable southern charm and style as they led The Black Crowes through an absolutely powerful and riveting performance of songs like “Descending”, “Cursed Diamond”, and “She Talks To Angels”, to name a few.

Discernible and undeniable traces of musical influence from artists such as The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and The Allman Brothers Band could easily be heard throughout their set. A detail that coupled with their superb instrumental use of alternate guitar tunings, slide guitar riffs, Hammond keyboard fills, Gospel like backup vocals, and counterpoint guitar leads, resulted in an absolutely gripping performance that had the entire house on their feet. To summarize, it’s great to have The Black Crowes back on stage and with new music.

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TheWaster.com | Port Chester
12.27.24